Ithaca College

Cyndy Scheibe presented “Digital Literacy with Project Look Sharp” on May 14 at Genesee Community College in Batavia, New York, to an audience of approximately 45 teachers for Digital Media in the Classroom Conference Day.

The conference also included a keynote by ImagineYOU@TeenCentral, a youth leader driven initiative based in Rochester, New York, and breakout sessions about digital audio, graphic tablets and stop motion video. 

Scheibe’s two-hour talk focused on some topics from her book “The Teacher’s Guide to Media Literacy” — such as the basic overview of the process of media literacy and constructivist media coding — as well as linking media literacy to the common core standards and how teachers can use new technologies in the classroom. 

Scheibe engaged the audience by supporting her points with multiple examples. She led a constructivist media decoding of two historical paintings, highlighting the effectiveness of media literacy pedagogies to address the teacher’s goals — including introducing or reinforcing core content, discussing sensitive issues and encouraging involvement by all students in the class. She also discussed ways teachers could use Twitter in both lower and upper elementary classes, and she showed examples of student-produced PSAs and counter-advertisements, which are used to speak out about advertising messages.

“Media literacy is — first and foremost — literacy. That means both ‘reading’ messages in a wide range of media formats and ‘writing’ or creating your own messages using a wide range of media formats. Students learn an enormous amount by creating their own media content,” Scheibe said.

The presentation was met with a high level of involvement and positive feedback. 

One participant commented, “Her strategies could be implemented in the classroom immediately. She instructs to instill an intrinsic sense of learning in her audience and does it quite successfully.”

For more information, you can email us at looksharp@ithaca.edu or contact us by phone at 607-274-3471. You can also reach Cyndy Scheibe at scheibe@ithaca.edu.

Project Look Sharp is Ithaca College’s Media Literacy Initiative. Project Look Sharp supports the integration of critical thinking through media literacy in school curriculum and teaching. They do this through developing and providing lesson plans, media materials, training, and support for educators at all education levels. The purpose of media literacy education is to help individuals of all ages develop the habits of inquiry and skills of expression they need to be critical thinkers, effective communicators, and active citizens in today’s world.